What bassists Famous bassists are completely self-taught? I'm talking about NO lessons and NO schooling. They just play by ear or picked it up themselves. Here's who I have so far


Jaco
Stuart Zender
Pino Palladino

Two words; Jaco Pastorious!

Jaco is the boy here. I'm not sure Geddy Lee had any schooling though, apart from Piano lessons.

Possibly Victor Wooten? Not sure, but he learned, initially through jamming with his brothers. From what little i know, i'd say he would've known a lot by the time he thought about being formally taught.

What bassists Famous bassists are completely self-taught? I'm talking about NO lessons and NO schooling. They just play by ear or picked it up themselves.

Well I think that virtually every famous rock/pop or even Jazz players, were self-taught and it would be much easier to say who was classically-trained.

Thirty years ago there were no Jazz courses to go and train on and it would only really have been people who were going to end up in Orchestras who would have gone through music school...

Nowadays you can go to music school or University and do courses on popular rock or Jazz and play Bass Guitar!

30 years ago - you would have had to play 'legit' piano and Double Bass to study music and you woudl have been studying Classical Theory.

The way people became rock bass players, was to listen to records, play with other people and pick it up as you went - learn from other musicians and what you saw /heard.


So - go back to 1976 and Norman Watt's-Roy (session BG great and Blockhead) tells how Jaco came over to England with Weather Report.

The audiences in London are full of pro bass players trying to work out what Jaco was doing and then apply it to their playing - no books, no teachers to explain this stuff - just watch and learn!

Norman then applied what he leant from Jaco, to "Hit me with Your Rhythm Stick"!! :)

John Entwistle in the way that he created his own technique :s

Flea also I think.

Steve Harris said he was self taught.

Billy Sheehan

Me.

Me, too!

Francis Rocco Prestia

I am not sure how much you can call Jaco self taught. I read before that his father taught him how to play music.

Hey everybody, Sting started out self taught on the acoustic guitar....then moved to bass. (And of course now plays about anything.) So, Sting. Geddy Lee I believe was self taught. Steve Harris. All these guys are already mentioned. With the exception of Sting. Off the top of my head that is all I can think of as far as bassist go.

Possibly Victor Wooten? Not sure, but he learned, initially through jamming with his brothers. From what little i know, i'd say he would've known a lot by the time he thought about being formally taught.

If you asked him, he would say his brother was his teacher.

he took cello in grades 6-12, so that counts for a little bit...

other than that i believe he was self taught.

Jaco's father was a traveling musician who saw his son every so often . Now jaco's father and grandfather both played drums , which was jaco's first instrumetn, and they taught him a bit on that but he picked up bass after messing up his arm. He was completely self taught.

I don't honestly think we can count things learned by hearing other musicians in the definition of "self taught", because if we were then there isn't a self-taught musician alive. Everyone you interact with musically can teach you something, often without you realizing it. Best to stick with the definition of "no classical training."

Well I think that virtually every famous rock/pop or even Jazz players, were self-taught and it would be much easier to say who was classically-trained.

Thirty years ago there were no Jazz courses to go and train on and it would only really have been people who were going to end up in Orchestras who would have gone through music school...

Nowadays you can go to music school or University and do courses on popular rock or Jazz and play Bass Guitar!

30 years ago - you would have had to play 'legit' piano and Double Bass to study music and you woudl have been studying Classical Theory.

The way people became rock bass players, was to listen to records, play with other people and pick it up as you went - learn from other musicians and what you saw /heard.


So - go back to 1976 and Norman Watt's-Roy (session BG great and Blockhead) tells how Jaco came over to England with Weather Report.

The audiences in London are full of pro bass players trying to work out what Jaco was doing and then apply it to their playing - no books, no teachers to explain this stuff - just watch and learn!

Norman then applied what he leant from Jaco, to "Hit me with Your Rhythm Stick"!! :)

To me, this post settles the question.;)

Paul McCartney... who else?

Claypool, I think.

Mick Karn

Me, too!

me three!

What bassists Famous bassists are completely self-taught? I'm talking about NO lessons and NO schooling.

Self-taught is a little misleading in that, to some extent, everyone is self-taught and, at the same time, no one is.

What I mean is, there are people who have no formal instruction on the bass (i.e. they didn't take lessons or a formal class in bass playing), but musicians are always talking about music and techniques with one another. If a friend shows you a slap lick, he's giving you a mini-lesson. And if you learn the same from a book, that's just a form of distance education (the "instructor" in this case being the book author).

But I get what you mean: some people study under others for years or have degrees in music and others learn it through books, magazine articles, and whatever other sources are available. In education theory, they call such people "self-directed learners" because they prefer seek out the resources they need and learn at their own pace rather than sit through a formal class.

And I would imagine most rock and many jazz musicians fall into this category. Still, many public schools do still have some semblance of a music education program. Many bassists get some formal music instruction from school, even if it's not directly related to bass playing.

Wheat

Self-taught is a little misleading in that, to some extent, everyone is self-taught and, at the same time, no one is.

In my original post I asked who was COMPLETELY self-taught. That would mean that they had NO classical training (ie. went to school, college, university for BASS).

I know Jaco did not go to school for bass. So therefore he would qualify as someone who was Self-Taught. It also helps that in his instuctional video he says "Yeah Jerry, I'm Self-Taught".

Flea also I think.

He's a fully trained Jazz bassist, if I am correct.

He's a fully trained Jazz bassist, if I am correct.

No- he's a trained jazz trumpeter. He was taught bass to replace a band's original bassist by one of the other guys in the band and self-taught from there, if my memory serves me.

He's a fully trained Jazz bassist, if I am correct.

I thought he was trained as a trumpet player...was he trained in bass as well?


That aside, I think Claypool was self taught also. I was self taught...:hiding:

Chris Squire.

He's a fully trained Jazz bassist, if I am correct.

I don't think so. He admitted when he did that interview with Charlie Haden that he couldn't walk over changes.

Flea took lessons for trumpet and his main instrument was trumpet then.

at 17, he is offered a replacement for playing bass in Jack Irons and Hıllel Slovak's band ( A.Kiedis was opening their shows by rapping about the band ) which later became the peppers.

Slovak has helped him at the beginning, then he moved on himself.

Despite telling "it is useless to talk about any theory since we both know nothing about it" to River Phoenix on his bass lesson dvd, he learned some basics from John later and he knows theory now.

Flea took lessons for trumpet and his main instrument was trumpet then.

at 17, he is offered a replacement for playing bass in Jack Irons and Hıllel Slovak's band ( A.Kiedis was opening their shows by rapping about the band ) which later became the peppers.

Slovak has helped him at the beginning, then he moved on himself.

Despite telling "it is useless to talk about any theory since we both know nothing about it" to River Phoenix on his bass lesson dvd, he learned some basics from John later and he knows theory now.

Cool. I did not know about his trumpeter start. :hiding:

Sid Vicious. :hiding:

Paul McCartney

That guy from the White Stripes

Almost all blues players.

That guy from the White Stripes

LOL!!!:D
Stu Zender

Me! I couldn't read music if you held a gun to my head. My technique? Probably not classic or the best, but it works for me.

Bootsy Collins
Louis Johnson
Larry Graham
Prince*(also taught himself to read)
Chris Squire
Janice Marie Johnson
Teena Marie*(after watching Rick James bassists)
Les Claypool
Traa Daniels

Monk Montgomery

http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/guitars/noframes/cs05.htm

Lemmy
Steve Harris
Chris Squire
Geezer Butler

These guys are some of the most unique bass players out there, with totally unique playing styles and sound. Maybe taking lessons can take all that away...?

Almost all blues players.

I'm one of those blues players :hiding: (Still learning and/or teaching myself blues bass.;) )
I was going to say names like Steve Harris, Paul McCartney (who was learning trumpet because his dad was a trumpeter and trumpets were "kind of heroic at the time". But he couldn't sing while playing trumpet, so he switched to guitar, then to bass when Stu Sutcliffe left), Larry Graham, Geezer Butler but those names were already written here:bawl:

Claypool took lessons in high school for jazz band, but his playing style is all his own.

Here's some blues and funk players who are "self-taught":
Donald "Duck" Dunn
James Jamerson
Larry Graham (because he was the first to slap-and-pop and he taught himself how to use the thumb)
Pretty sure Tommy Shannon taught himself the blues (Stevie Ray Vaughn band)

Flea took lessons for trumpet and his main instrument was trumpet then.

at 17, he is offered a replacement for playing bass in Jack Irons and Hıllel Slovak's band ( A.Kiedis was opening their shows by rapping about the band ) which later became the peppers.

Slovak has helped him at the beginning, then he moved on himself.

Despite telling "it is useless to talk about any theory since we both know nothing about it" to River Phoenix on his bass lesson dvd, he learned some basics from John later and he knows theory now.

Except that he would have known a ton of music theory, just not how to apply it to bass. He was accepted to juliard for trumpet, but then the peppers got signed.

lowsound

Actually, if you'll recall the Jaco video he mentioned he was "formally self-taught."

BWAHAHAHA that line cracks me up every time!


RIP Great One :bassist:

:cool: Richard Bona

Phil Lesh.

Well-schooled in music, but a stranger to the bass.

Malcolm Hall